


Cold Toes (and everything that comes with those)

by Purple_Pixie143



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 11:59:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4959784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_Pixie143/pseuds/Purple_Pixie143
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has cold toes. He wants Nick to warm them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Toes (and everything that comes with those)

**Author's Note:**

> And here's another one of my brain farts, that wouldn't go away, even though I was supposed to be taking a break. Nick Grimshaw and Louis Tomlinson have infiltrated my mind and I just can't seem to stop. Help?
> 
> Hope you enjoy (: 
> 
> Riney x

** _Cold Toes (and everything that comes with those)_ **

The first time they shared a bed was after the media had written something particularly nasty about Louis and Nick mentioned it on-air.

(And sure he often mentioned the One Direction lads, especially Harry, but it was a well known fact that he and the eldest member of the group, were not exactly pals.)

So when he verbally blasted the shit tabloid and their incompetent journalism in Louis’ defense, his co-workers and the fans were all quite stunned.

Harry had found it endearing and decided to throw a party because, well it was Harry and he didn’t really need an excuse, but it was a _‘Nick defended Louis and now they’re gonna be friends’_ party.

Nick hadn’t known what to expect so he had been mostly quiet at the party; speaking only when spoken to and all that. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet,” a voice said from his side; a voice he’d know anywhere.

Nick fixed his face and put on a bright smile, “Hello, Louis Tomlinson.”

Louis rolled his eyes, but he didn’t seem to be really agitated, “Hello.”

“What brings you over here?” Nick asked, hoping he didn’t sound defensive. He didn’t need to upset the other man and ruin Harry’s party (the loveable idiot would probably cry).

Louis flashed him a wary grin, “Should say thanks innit? You did a smashing good job defending me the other day.”

And it wasn’t a big deal, really. Nick couldn’t understand why everyone was making such a fuss out of it. Still, he grinned down at Louis, “Haven’t gotten me cheque yet, reckon I did a better job than your team. Damage control and all.”

There was a brief look that crossed Louis’ face, but it was gone so quickly, Nick might’ve imagined it.

“Wanna go somewhere quiet?” Louis asked and _what?_ Nick was in no way expecting that. He glanced up and wondered if it were some weird prank and someone was filming it to load it on YouTube to take the piss. The party was going on around them and no one was paying attention to them. Harry was, as Liam said once 'throwing some weird shapes’, trying to pass it off as dancing and that was the main focus right then.

“Gonna try to get me drunk and have your wicked way with me?” Nick said jokingly.

“I have to verify that you’re a good cuddler first,” Louis replied, not missing a beat. “I only sleep with people I want to cuddle with after.”

And then Louis was laughing and tugging Nick along; poor Nick’s brain trying to catch up. He didn’t _think_ he was drunk, but he couldn’t be too sure. Niall had been plying him with all sorts of concoctions all night.

_Louis Tomlinson wanted to sleep with him._

Had he entered some alternate universe?

“Harry has a lovely bed,” Louis said and Nick hadn’t realized they had made their way there. He was sitting on said bed before he realized it, a cheeky Louis Tomlinson grinning down at him.

Nick returned the grin, “Been here lots?”

And Louis gave him a sharp look and Nick thought he had ruined, whatever this was that was going on, before it even happened; but then he shrugged, “He’s my best mate as well so yeah, been here lots.”

Louis turned away from Nick and started to take off his clothes and _oh!_ Nick was probably blushing and if Louis’ wink was anything to go by, he was doing so prettily. 

“We’re not having sex Nicholas,” Louis’ tone was teasing and Nick ducked his head. 

“Wasn’t…um…I knew that,” Nick fumbled over his words and Louis (who was still undressing as though it was the most natural thing in the world) laughed and jumped onto the bed.

“Get off your clothes old man,” Louis said, tugging at Nick’s jumper. “Want me a proper cuddle.” 

And Nick could never say no to a pretty face, and this face in particular, well, Nick thought was prettiest. So he found himself lurching to his feet to rid himself of his clothes and the time he was done Louid was already burrowed beneath Harry’s duvet.

“I thought you hated me,” Nick blurted as he climbed into the bed. He slapped himself mentally when Louis froze for a moment, holding a breath that he was afraid to let go.

Louis chuckled and shook his head, "I've never hated you. And well, since you were my protector lately, that was the perfect opportunity to make my move."

_So Harry was right after all. And he had wasted so much time. The curly haired menace would never let him the end of it._

"I've always fancied the pants off you, me." 

Louis frowned, "I never believed Hazza..."

Nick shook his head, "He's going to give us shit for this."

Louis shrugged and shuffled closer to Nick, "Technically all we're doing is talking."

Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "In bed. With just our pants on Louis." 

Louis smirked, "I've been in bed with loads of my friends in only my pants, what's your point?"

Thing is, Nick can't really judge because he's done the same thing on several ocassions. He rolled his eyes this time and Louis' head flopped down on Nick's chest and Nick found himself yawning suddenly. "Remind me never to trust the little Irishman to mix my drinks again," he said wrapping his arm around Louis' shoulder.

Louis snorted, "Rookie mistake. They're creeping up on up you now, aren't they?" And they were, whatever the fruity concoction Niall mixed up had been sweet and you could hardly taste the liquor. Now as he lay in bed, his vision was starting to blur and his eyelids seemed heavy.

"Let's go to sleep," Louis said softly, letting his fingers card through Nick's chest hair.

Nick didn't want to go to sleep, not when he finally had Louis Tomlinson in his bed (well Harry's but details); but his eyes were drooping and Louis was humming and his fingers were threading softly through the hair on his chest.

"Night, Louis Tomlinson."

Louis' voice was soft and amused, "Night, Nicholas Grimshaw."

* * *

~|~

The second time it happens is two weeks after the first and Nick's day had been utter shit. He just wanted the day to end and when filming for X-Factor wrapped for the day, he was of the studio before anyone could detain him.

There was a shadow waiting on his doorstep and Nick wasn't really in the mood for company. He could hear Pig going crazy inside.

"It's about time you got here," and Nick nearly dropped his keys. Turns out it was Louis Tomlinson who was sitting on his stoop. 

"I wasn't aware I was getting graced with your phenomenal presence," Nick said dryly as he unlocked the door. Louis had risen to his feet and was combing his fingers through his hair nervously.

"Do all your friends call before turning up?" Louis asked and there was something off about his voice. Nick shook his head and stepped back to let Louis in. He watched as Pig scampered to the door, her claws clicking on the floor as she skid to a halt in front of Louis; a curious expression on her lupine face.

"Hello Pig dog," Louis said, his voice soft and his body bending into a crouch to rub at the dog's head. And Nick was a bit confused, "You know her name?"

Louis looked up at him and rolled his eyes, " _Everyone_ knows her name." 

And that was fair; Nick was sure he talked far too much about Pig, but in his defense, she was truly a magnificent creature. He put his keys in the jelly bowl Harry had given him as a birthday present and headed into the kitchen to get some water and food for Pig (who was apparently enamored with Louis, if the way she was following him was anything to go on).

Louis followed him and pulled himself up on the counter, his feet dangling, as he watched Nick silently. "So what brings you here?" Nick asked as Pig _finally_ moved from Louis' side.

Louis shrugged, "Sounded like you could use a cuddle."

That was true, but Nick was now wary of Louis' cuddles. The last time there was cuddling between them, Nick had woken up with a mouthful of Harry's curls and no sign of Louis. He hadn't heard a word from the boy either. So to have him here now, talking about _more_ cuddles, well to be honest, was rather confusing.

Nick leveled a look at the younger man and moved to the fridge, "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," and Nick heard the smile in his voice. He nodded and fished something edible out of his freezer; it looked like something Harry had made or maybe not. Either way, Nick was too tired to care. He chucked it in the oven and then came the awkward silence.

Louis sat watching him, and Nick found his gaze drawn to the bare ankles. _And when did ankles become sexy?_ He cleared his throat, "Um, would you like something to drink? I've got wine and water."

"Water would be fine," Louis said. "Thanks."

Nick nodded and returned to the fridge for two bottles. He handed Louis his and uncorked his own and took a sip. "So you figured I needed a cuddle why?"

"Listened to your show today, didn't I?" Louis replied, as if that cleared it up. Nick rose a brow, "And?"

Louis frowned, "And you sounded absolutely shit. All cranky and not all together there."

_And since when had Louis become an expert on his moods?_

"I don't like when you sound like that," and it was said so softly, Nick almost missed it. He didn't know how to reply to that and was glad when the timer on the oven went off, signaling that their meal was ready. He plated the meal and they moves to the living room to sit on the couch, the only sound in the room, the clatter of forks hitting the plate and Pig chewing on some annoying toy one of his friends had given her.

They were finished soon enough and Nick was surprised when Louis reached for his plate before standing and carrying them into the kitchen. Nick didn't move and for a minute he was tempted to text Harry and ask him what he should do, but Louis was back before he could even reach for his phone.

"Wanna watch a movie? Or something?" Nick gestured to the television. Louis shook his head, "No. We're gonna brush our teeth and go to bed."

And that was that. Nick searched for an unopened toothbrush and the two of them cleaned up together in Nick's bathroom and Nick tried not to feel self-conscious when he caught Louis watching him in the mirror. He couldn't really decipher the look on the popstar's face and he actually didn't have the energy to do it right then anyways.

Nick turned off the light and the two made their way to the bedroom, Nick gave Louis a shirt to sleep in and he stripped down and they climbed into the bed. It was unbelievably awkward, their bodies not touching, no one saying a word.

"Are you going to be gone when I wake up?" Nick heard himself asking. The _like last time_ was unsaid but he knew Louis could hear it. The other man sighed and turned on his side, throwing an arm over Nick's waist and burying his nose in the crook of Nick's neck. Nick stiffened for a short moment but Louis was having none of it. He pressed slightly chapped lips into Nick's flesh, "Go to sleep. I'll be here."

"You don't..." Nick started.

A pair of soft lips cut him off and everything else was unimportant, "I _want_ to stay. Now shush and go to sleep." 

Nick chased Louis' lips when they moved away and the boy laughed but conceded two more kisses. There were so many questions Nick wanted to ask; so many things he wanted to say. He was _very_ confused. He had absolutely no idea what was going on and he was not used to feeling so bereft and out of sorts when it came to his feelings. 

(He supposed it was to be expected though, because this was no ordinary conquest. No, this was _Louis Tomlinson_ and if that wasn't a big deal, then Nick didn't know what was.)

Nick settled down, his head being cushioned by his pillow and Louis' feathery hair tickling his nose, and his fingers were once again twirling around in Nick's chest fuzz. 

It was quite nice and Nick could feel the tension of the day seeping out of his bones. Without thinking about it, he kissed the top of Louis' head and smiled when Louis snuggled even closer.

It was quiet in the room then, and Nick felt the tension of the day seeping out of him, Louis' soft puffs of breath warming his skin. He felt his eyes start to droop when it happened.

"Jesus, Louis!" Nick sprung up, bringing Louis with him and Louis' head butt his chin. "Fucking _ow!_

Louis rubbed his head and glared at Nick, his blue eyes glittering in the dimly lit room, "What the actual fuck, Grimshaw?"

"Your toes are freezing!" Nick cries accusingly.

And Louis looked at him, rolled his eyes and flopped back down. "I thought you were being murdered by an invisible force or summat." 

"Your toes are ice cold Tomlinson," Nick cried pushing Louis' feet away from his legs. 

Louis groaned and sat up, "Nicholas, you have a weirdly shaped head that's a bit too large for your body, have you heard me complaining? No, so would you please shut up now warm my toes and let me sleep?"

And what was he to say to that? 

Absolutely nothing. He shut up and resisted the urge to shove Louis' cold feet off him. Eventually they warmed up and Nick noticed Louis' breaths evening out, and he closed his eyes and pulled the boy closer, dropping a kiss on his forehead before joining him in the land of Nod.

* * *

~|~

"Have you ever slept with someone who has cold toes?" Nick asked his listeners on a rainy morning. Lovely October weather and all that. Louis was in Glagow and had been texting Nick all morning, complaining that none of the boys would let him cuddle with them.

They had been doing the whole getting to know each other better thing in the last three months, and Nick was missing him terribly. His kisses, his inabilty to find a way to clean up after himself (and Nick had been finding quite a bit of Louis' belongings at his house, not that he minded), and strangely enough, he missed his damned cold toes.

Still, they had not labeled whatever was going on and a part of Nick was relieved because he may or may not have committment issues. Then there was the other part that longed to claim Louis as his own. He wanted to let the world know that the tiny one with the cheekbones was all his.

He noticed Fiona watching him with a curious expression on her face, he ignored her and replied to Louis' latest text with a string of emojis. 

"Are _you_ sleeping with someone who has cold toes then, Grimmy?" Fiona asked. And Nick really needed new friends.

"I'm good, me," Nick said and almost laughed out loud at the new text Louis sent.

"And who is that texting you then?" Fiona asked an impish grin on her face. Nick should throw something at her. "Grimmy's got a new boyfriend!" Fiona went on, "Been texting all morning and making googly eyes at the screen." 

"Fu... _Fifi?_ " and he almost swore on live radio. His managers would _love_ that. "Let's not talk about my personal life, yeah?" He looked at her, pleading silently to drop it. Luckily for Nick, he had a phone interview coming up, so she laughed and dropped it. 

"We'll let this one slide for now Grimmy, but we _will_ be finishing this conversation," Fiona said with a wiggling of her brows. 

_I hate you,_ Nick mouthed and she blew him a kiss. The song that had been playing had about thirty seconds left and then Nick was on and introducing the call. 

"Good morning..." he paused to check who was the celebrity guest this morning and he nearly choked on his spit. 

"Top of the morning to you as well Grimmy," Louis said cheerfully on the other end of the call.

"Er, Louis Tomlinson. Hiya," Nick wasn't sure how he missed this one; and Louis hadn't even mentioned it. _Brat._

Louis' bright laughed filtered into the studio, "Seems like I've surprised you there Nicholas." 

And he had, "Um, no just wanted to try my hand at acting." 

There was a moment of silence and then laughter flooded him from every angle, "Not even a chance Grimmy," Fiona chortled.

"You _totally_ had me fooled!" Louis said and Nick could almost see his cheeky grin.

Nick groaned and flipped Fiona off and sent the middle finger emoji to Louis. "Anyways, let's tell the fans how good the last end of the tour is going shall we?" 

Louis made a sound, "Ah yes, but I wanted to talk about the question you asked earlier."

"What question?" Nick knew he wasn't fooling anyone.

"About the cold toes, _Nicholas_ ," and Nick could hear the teasing evident in his tone.

Nick clicked his tongue, "Ah yes. Well..."

"Well _I_ have cold toes," Louis said. 

"Mmhmm?" Nick replied, trying to appear nonchalant.

"And my _boyfriend_ complains about them _all_ the time," Louis said. And Nick, well, he spat out the bit of coffee he had just sipped. 

Immediately the phone lines went crazy, the Internet would more than likely crash and Nick, Nick was rendered speechless.

Fiona was the first one to recover, "Your say what now?" 

And Louis was quite calm about it while Nick was hyperventilating, because, Louis had just come out on live radio (Modest! were probably shitting bricks) and since _when_ did he have a _fucking **boyfriend**_?

"My boyfriend, well at least I'd like him to be my boyfriend," Louis' voice had gone all quiet and anyone with ears could tell he was nervous. Nick was still gawking at the phone and Fiona was throwing paper clips at him. 

"So, this person, is technically not your boyfriend then?" Fiona asked.

And Nick wanted her to just _shut it._

He was about to say something, _finally_ , when Louis continued, "Like, we haven't been the best of friends but we've been getting to know each other better over the past few months. Plus he's a great cuddler."

Nick grabbed the mic then, "Tomlinson." 

Louis coughed, "Grimshaw?"

"I do not complain about your toes _all_ the time!" Nick was indignant and Fiona, along with half the world were currently losing their shit.

Louis laughed and Nick's heart felt as though it would leap right out of his chest. 

_He was in love with Louis Tomlinson._

"Yes you do Nicholas," Louis chuckled. "Every bloody time!"

"Well, in my defense, they're ridiculously cold Lou!" Nick cried. 

Louis made a garbled noise, "Well that's rude!"

Nick grinned, "Louis, we're almost out of time and we haven't talked about anything about the tour."

"Oh sh...crap! I'm sure we can work something out at a later date," Louis said.

"Also, I don't really mind your cold toes. I want them and everything else that comes along with them. Hurry up and come home... _boyfriend._ "

"Both of you are saps!" Harry's voice sounded. "And I just wanted to say, _I told you so!"_

"I'll see you soon," Louis said. "Got rehearsals to get to." 

They said their goodbyes and Nick was grinning broadly as he introduced the next song, "Here's to having boyfriend with cold toes eh? This is One Direction with _Drag Me Down."_

**Author's Note:**

> And there it is. Not sure if it's any good but at least my brain is free now.
> 
> Come say hi on [Tumblr!](http://www.purplepixie143.tumblr.com/)


End file.
